(Patrick McMullan)
The WPIX Channel 11 -Cablevision carriage feud is turning into one of the oddest standoffs in recent memory.
No one seems to notice.
While past TV disputes sparked massive ad campaigns, lawmakers threatening legislative action and angry fans racing to find alternative pay TV providers, this retransmission-fee dispute is downright quiet.
With PIX off Cablevision systems since Aug. 17, it seems that viewers can live without “Seinfeld” reruns and “Gossip Girl.”
To be sure, WPIX owner Tribune Co. has a letter at its site telling folks to switch distributors and call Cablevision to get the station back on air.
Tribune also took out ads yesterday in the Long Island Press — not the larger Cablevision-owned Newsday — to alert customers.
Cablevision’s 3 million households accounts for 39 percent of WPIX’s footprint in the New York metropolitan area.
“This must be devastating,” one source said.
Cablevision is trying hard to make sure viewers don’t see a dark Channel 11.
They have been running a free preview of the NFL Network on Channel 11 — which last night aired the Giants/Panthers game.
The “PIX News at Ten,” with Jodi Applegate, has seen as much as a 60 percent drop-off in ratings, according to Multichannel News.
Bernstein Research’s telecom analyst, Craig Moffett, said that Cablevision may have the upper hand.
“The Viacom/DirecTV dispute was the first straw in the wind. Viacom went dark, and the overnight ratings showed that their viewers moved to Disney. Viacom blinked and DirecTV ended up getting the better deal. The WPIX dispute is just another illustration that content isn’t always king after all.”
A WPIX spokeswoman responded: “Tribune has been trying to negotiate for the last five weeks; we have submitted a proposal to Cablevision to get our stations back on the air, yet Cablevision hasn’t even responded to our latest proposal.”
The network claims to have heard from 100,000 viewers over the dispute.